Our interview series continues this week with artist, Chelsea Michal Garter. Enjoy the Q & A along with a selection of Chelsea’s work.
How do you think your upbringing played a role in developing your creative point of view?
I spent most of my upbringing inside my home and in the fields and woods surrounding it. My parents didn’t really let us watch TV, so because of that we spent a lot of our time out in nature. I can see now how much that influenced me.
Also, we were homeschooled the entire way through our schooling and I tell a lot of people that is largely why I became an artist. I had time for it.
Because I grew up in a small sphere of people, I always got a lot of acknowledgment for my art, which gave me a ton of confidence and really propelled me forward. You would think that when I got into the “real world” I would have felt differently, but I still felt comfortable in my ability once I was in college and got a lot of encouragement there as well.
My worldview was so small growing up, I remember when my parents took us on a trip out West and I got to see the world — this changed everything. I remember feeling something new come alive in me. Travel has inspired me ever since.
When did you become serious about your work?
I became serious about my work in college. I had a teacher that really inspired me and made me feel like I had something to offer. This made all the difference. Your family and small community has to tell you you’re amazing, right? So, to have a teacher who wanted to put my work up for the outside world to see really meant something.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop and hearing someone in line talk about a piece I had recently displayed — they were so enthusiastic about how it spoke to them. They had no idea it was mine. I remember I felt something inside of me shift, “I could do this,” I thought. So I did.
What most often inspires your creativity?
I think my personality type feasts on experiences. I’m always inspired. I’m inspired during church by looking at the curve of someone’s jaw line (haha), or the texture of leaves on a hike, or color combinations I see in a landscape on a trip to a new place. Abstract paintings literally come to me now, maybe like a foreign language eventually does in people’s dreams when they’ve studied it for a long time. Color combinations pop into my mind so sometimes I don’t have to take hours to think through each step because of that.
Thanks to my husband, he really fosters my desire to travel for inspiration. Travel and seeing the world that is not close to me gives me new ideas for lines and color combinations. I need stimulation from new experiences.
What kind of creative patterns, routines or rituals do you have?
In the past year I have started off most of my mornings by making coffee and reading and writing near a window that overlooks our river. I go over my goals and dreams and sort of brain dump, so I have creative space in there. I usually do a little drawing in the morning to get the creativity flowing. I have drawn portraits since I was seven years old, so that is what I have been abstracting and using to start the creative process lately.
My husband has really encouraged me in my adult years to keep time and space blocked off to create and I really try to protect it now. When I don’t get time alone to paint I feel like life is chaotic. I need time to create now, just like I need food … almost as bad anyway.
How has your style and technique evolved? Are you experimenting with anything new?
When I started my career as an artist I created a body of work that was large with chunky, messy abstract colors of animals. Somehow these started selling like crazy and it was the majority of my work for a few years. Though I do still work this way sometimes because it brings me joy, I have moved into a lot more abstract work. I love making large bright abstract pieces on canvas. This has also evolved, and I have toned down my color palette a lot as I’ve discovered that I really love neutrals as well.
There are a lot of people who don’t have space or walls for such large pieces so my work tends to be more for people with large homes and eclectic styles. I tried to make small work that felt the same way. This has been difficult. It doesn’t bring me the same kind of joy. In the same way, I love to draw abstracted portraits small scale, and it has been hard to find a way that is satisfactory large scale, besides in mural form.
I am sort of a perfectionist. I make a lot of mistakes and waste a lot of time and surfaces because of new ideas I try to get out. I hate wasting, so I always want whatever I make to be perfect. My husband is always telling me to “just have fun.” He will text me on paint days and ask, “are you having fun?” As if that is all that matters. And I guess it is all that matters, really. Usually I am having fun.
What are you trying to communicate with your work?
I am a very emotional person. I want this to come out in my work. I want my love for nature to show up. I love being outside, and I am always drawn to the temporary things — plants that are plucked from the earth, flowers in season that quickly die. Emotions are like this—they come and go. I sort of get to freeze them along with different seasons of life in a painting. Does that make sense? I always think of my paintings like chapters in the book of my life.
What business advice do you have for young and aspiring creative professionals?
START NOW. Things take a long time to grow. Creativity is like a tree, if you water it consistently it grows.
It takes a long time to grow your name and your niche and your style … you gotta put a lot of practice in. I’d say, copy everything you can from work that is inspiring to you, but do not show work that looks like other peoples to anyone. Do it for yourself until you develop your own style. When you’re dabbling you will find out what you love and don’t love and hopefully a mixture of whatever you try out will become your own and end up looking nothing like the people who first inspired you.
If you’re copying someone’s work or creating something that looks just like it just use it to drive you until you can develop your own style. Don’t reveal work until it is completely your own. People can tell if it’s not authentic or driven from within.
I know this from experience. I’ve been inspired by other artists but when I try to make work even close to theirs it’s a flop because it’s not my own. It has to come from within. It is invasive to use someone else’s art to make your own. That artist spent lot of time and energy building their idea, so you need to respect that. Art is not just putting paint on paper, it is putting your person on paper, and that shouldn’t be copied or sold by anyone but you.
Put those baby seeds in the ground for a few years and work work work until one day you’ll be working on something and you’ll love a little portion of your painting/drawing and say “wow, that was new.” And then you’ll keep trying that over and over until you find a lot of those things and you’ll put them all together until you have your own style.
Don’t be afraid to make stuff that is stupid. Make a lot of stupid stuff. Throw a lot of stuff away. It’s okay. You’re just working something that is inside of you out and you will find your way.
Once you find it, you’ll know. Start letting other people see it. Let people like it or not like it. If you love it, that is what matters, because it is yours. It came from you. I have been scared almost every time I post something. It gets easier. Let the rejection in and shrug it off.
Ask people if you can put your work up in their space … restaurants, coffee shops, galleries, stores. They might tell you no, so just ask other places. What you make is beautiful. I’d also suggest taking classes or studying design and art. There are a lot of rules that can be broken but sort of need to be followed first as you begin.
It has taken me years to find and develop my niche. If it doesn’t take you years you haven’t found it yet.
Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
Ha, I think I have tried them all. But I have a ton of ideas I want to dabble with someday. I’m trying to learn to focus and stay content instead of all over the place and trying it all at once. This is also important if you want to develop a brand.
Do you have any upcoming shows or workshops?
I hope to teach a watercolor workshop soon. I’m just trying to carve out the time to be able to commit! This year has been more about large projects for different companies hiring me rather than having shows. I am going to start to display work in a few stores and restaurants this year. I do hope to work on a solo show and have it ready for this summer or fall. The best way to stay updated on new stuff is to keep up with my Instragram!
To see more of Chelsea’s work or follow her latest, visit her website (Made theme) or connect on social media:
